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World Champs heading to Paris on Monday to argue their case

By James Galloway

Last Updated: 11/04/14 5:42pm

One month after Ricciardo's controversial late-night exclusion from his home GP after his RB10 was adjudged to have contravened F1's new fuel-flow regulations, Red Bull head to the FIA's International Court of Appeal to contest the decision with the aim of getting the Australian driver reinstated in the race results.

Should Red Bull win their case then the 18 points the team would receive for Ricciardo's Melbourne runner-up finish would suddenly move them up to second place behind 2014 pacesetters Mercedes in the 2014 Constructors' Championship, cutting their deficit to their Brackley rivals to 38 points.

And with Red Bull aiming to stay keep in touch with Mercedes in the championship fight while they work on closing the pace gap, Horner has conceded: "Those points are vital - every point is vital."

Although the Melbourne stewards excluded Ricciardo's car from the results after finding his RB10 to have 'consistently exceeded the maximum fuel flow of 100kg per hour' during the race, Red Bull have since argued that they didn't break the 2014 Sporting Regulations and the Technical Directive they ignored, after FIA Race Director Whiting instructed teams to apply an offset to an inaccurate sensor, has "non-regulatory value".

Horner has consistently denied wrongdoing, dismissing the fuel flow sensors at the heart of the case as "immature technology" and "unreliable".

Red Bull reported fresh issues with their sensors in both Malaysia and Bahrain, with Horner telling reporters: "We've got a very strong case. I think that as more races have progressed issues have become more evident, new evidence or understanding has come to light, so hopefully we can present our case fairly and get the second place back that Daniel deserves from Melbourne."